PRO FOOTBALL;Modell Says Debt Forces Him to Move

The only thing missing from the National Football League owners' meeting here today was a big tent and three rings. Front and center was Art Modell, who denied reports that he would get $50 million up front in the deal to move the Browns from Cleveland to Baltimore. He said money from the sale of personal seat licenses -- "not a cent will go in my pocket" -- will go toward paying off the debt on Cleveland Stadium, the practice facility at Berea, Ohio, the cost of relocating the team, severance pay for employees who aren't moving and the relocation cost of those employees who are going to Baltimore.

Modell said at a news conference that he was leaving Cleveland for Baltimore "with a heavy heart, a profound sense of remorse and almost overwhelming despondency" because he had lost $21 million over the last two years and the franchise was in debt. Still, he thought Cleveland deserved an N.F.L. team.

I would lead the drive for a team in Cleveland if the city, county and state make it attractive for a team to be there," said Modell.

Modell, who signed a 30-year, rent-free lease agreement with Baltimore on Oct. 27 but announced it on Monday, said he would not attend the last three regular-season home games at Cleveland Stadium. Last Sunday he missed a home game from the first time in 35 years amid reports of bomb threats and an outcry of protest from angry Browns fans.

Mayor Michael R. White of Cleveland held a news conference moments after Modell. He said Modell had been duplicitous in his dealings with the government officials in Cleveland and Ohio. He accused Modell of stalling negotiations over proposed renovations to Cleveland Stadium while initiating talks with Baltimore about relocating the team. White also warned other N.F.L. cities they could be in jeopardy of losing their teams. The Houston Oilers are talking about moving to Nashville; the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are reportedly considering a move to Orlando, Fla., and the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals have eyes on Los Angeles.

"It happened to Oakland and nobody said anything," White said. "It happened in Los Angeles and nobody said anything. It's happening in Houston. Nobody is saying a word. How many cities are going to be threatened this way before the N.F.L. recognizes it's bad for communities and it's bad for their league?

"What is the impact on the N.F.L. if it allows that team to kick that city in the teeth?"

Amid the swirl, Commissioner Paul Tagliabue sounded a note of calm and caution, saying that the Browns haven't moved yet and that the movement of teams to this point -- the Rams and the Raiders -- is "tolerable."

Tagliabue said the league would like to have all pertinent information from all parties involved in the Browns' move to Baltimore by mid-December and that owners will meet again in mid-January, the week after the conference championship games, to vote on the proposed move. It must be approved by 23 of the 30 team owners.

"I have no way of knowing," Tagliabue said when asked how he thought the vote might come out.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys' owner, Jerry Jones, served all his fellow owners, except Al Davis of the Raiders, with a $750 million antitrust lawsuit to dissolve NFL Properties. Jones is charging that NFL Properties is an illegal cartel and seeking to have it dissolved as the exclusive licensing and marketing agent for all 30 teams.

The league sued Jones and the Cowboys for $300 million in September after Jones signed marketing agreements with Pepsi and Nike for Texas Stadium outside of NFL Properties.

There was a mixture of sentiment by owners on Modell's move.

"Baltimore Browns might sound good to some people, but it clanks in my ears," said the Bengals' general manager, Mike Brown, who turned down the same deal with Baltimore last spring that Modell accepted on Monday.

"The league is stable," said the Denver Broncos' owner, Pat Bowlen. "We are facing situations where we have to have new stadiums and new venues to remain competitive."

Ralph Wilson, the Bills' owner, said: "I don't think it helps the stability of the league to be moving teams throughout the country. I'm in a small market and you have to make improvements on a gradual basis or all of a sudden you're hit with the need for $100 million and you're saying, 'See you later.' "

John Kent Cooke, the son of the Redskins' owner, Jack Kent Cooke, voiced his disapproval of the Browns' move to Baltimore in the morning session following Modell's presentation of his proposal. The Redskins' owner has been working on a proposal for a new stadium in Prince Georges County, less than an hour's drive from Camden Yards.

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"The Baltimore Colts and the Washington Redskins shared the market for years," Modell said. "This is not a new venture."

The N.F.L. policy governing franchise relocation calls for a team to prove it will experience financial hardship if it isn't allowed to move. In presenting his case, Modell said he had spent $66 million on improvements to Cleveland Stadium over the last 20 years, had lost $21 million in two years and was deeply in debt. He said the cost of signing high-priced free agents was driving him deeper into debt.

"When Jerry Jones wanted to sign Deion Sanders he wrote him a check," Modell said. "When Bob Kraft signed Drew Bledsoe he went to his checkbook. When I wanted to sign Andre Rison I had to call my bank and borrow $5 million."

Tagliabue acknowledged that owners are feeling the pressure of the collective bargaining agreement and said it is quickly creating a greater disparity between the "haves and the have-nots." In part that is fueling the desire of teams to seek new stadiums, with luxury boxes that generate greater income.

Under the formula that determines the salary cap (67 percent of designated gross revenue that is shared by the teams), money from luxury boxes and loge seats is not included. So, the teams that have an abundance of expensive luxury boxes have ready cash on hand to lure free agents with contract offers that include large bonuses.

"Our system is out of whack," Brown said. "We'll find a solution. We can't keep going on like this."

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Cooke Sees Progress on Deal

The Washington Redskins' owner, Jack Kent Cooke, hinted today that there had been a breathrough in his efforts to build a stadium in suburban Maryland, but emphasized that negotiations with the District of Columbia were also continuing.

Cooke told WRC-TV that Gov. Parris Glendening of Maryland has offered to pay $73 million in state money for both off and on-site infrastructure improvements at the 300-acre Wilson Farm lot near Landover.

The money for on-site improvements, such as roads and parking lots, has been a sticking point in recent negotiations between Cooke and Prince Georges County.

Glendening's office refused to comment on Cooke's statement and would confirm only that negotiations were continuing.

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Cleveland Still Has Hope

In what was widely seen as a last-ditch effort to save the Cleveland Browns, Cuyahoga County voters today approved a measure to extend a tax on alcohol and tobacco to renovate aging Cleveland Stadium.

The passage by a margin of 71 percent to 29 percent may be too late. Browns owner Art Modell announced on Monday that he would be moving the team to Baltimore. He said his deal with Baltimore -- which includes a new $200 million stadium -- was "far beyond the capacity of the community of Cleveland" to match.

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A version of this article appears in print on November 8, 1995, on Page B00009 of the National edition with the headline: PRO FOOTBALL;Modell Says Debt Forces Him to Move. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe